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School choice is booming in Iowa as the program is now fully universal.
The state’s education savings account (ESA) program has grown over 50% in just one year, with  43,784 approved out of…

School choice is booming in Iowa as the program is now fully universal.
The state’s education savings account (ESA) program has grown over 50% in just one year, with  43,784 approved out of over 45,000 applications, according to local media.
Participants in the 2025-26 school year will receive $8,000, the equivalent of what the state of Iowa gives public schools for each pupil – though schools receive an additional $8,000 per pupil from local and federal funding sources.
Although applications closed June 30 and funds were dispersed July 15, the department has until the end of the month to approve any last-minute applicants.  
Iowa’s ESA launched in 2023 after Gov. Kim Reynolds lobbied hard for school choice. Some commentators have even credited Reynolds with sparking the school choice revolution that soon caught fire in Florida, Texas and other red states.  
In its first two years, Iowa’s program had income limits, but it became wildly popular with families. In 2023, 18,000 students received ESAs. By 2024, the number had risen to nearly 28,000.  
Now, with nearly 44,000 participants, the program is making good on Reynold’s promise to fund students instead of systems.  
Analysts have lauded Iowa’s school choice policies as some of the best in the nation.  
A recent report from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) ranked Iowa fifth in the nation for education freedom. It received highest marks in the categories of state-level programs (third) and homeschooling policies (tied for first).  
Reynolds also has supported largely autonomous charter schools, a common form of choice within the public-school system. Charters are publicly funded but have more freedom to innovate and are governed independently. 
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, charter schools in Iowa have boomed, with enrollment increasing 228% between 2019 and 2024. During the same time, the government-run public school system declined nearly 2%.  

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